“Nature produces rhythms all the time,” one radio astronomer explained, pointing to rotating jets, plasma oscillations, and magnetic interactions as plausible sources. Amateur radio analyses and professional observatories alike are now monitoring 31/ATLAS across multiple frequencies.
Nickel, Iron, and a Controversial Alloy
The chemistry of 31/ATLAS has become a flashpoint, particularly claims of unusually high nickel content and possible detection of nickel tetracarbonyl. Avi Loeb’s assertion that such an alloy has “never been seen in nature” has drawn both attention and criticism.
Skeptics counter that extreme astrophysical environments can produce complex compounds without technological involvement, and that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Probability, Perspective, and the 0.5 Percent Claim
Loeb has argued that there is only a 0.5 percent chance that 31/ATLAS’s trajectory and alignment occurred randomly. Other astronomers respond that with enough objects and variables, rare alignments are statistically inevitable.
